Page 76 - DSOC202_SOCIAL_STRATIFICATION_ENGLISH

Unit 5: Forms of Social Stratification

Explaining the mechanism and dynamics of social stratification Andre Beitelle (ibid) tells us that Notes
everywhere power plays an important part in the maintenance and reproduction of social
stratification. First, there is the use of the apparatus of state for enforcing the privileges and
disabilities of superior and inferior strata, as in South Africa (till recently). But violence may also
be used for the same end outside the framework of the state as in the case of lynching, whether of
Blacks by Whites in the United States or of untouchables by ‘caste Hindus’ in India. Whereas
power is important in upholding the existing order, the extent to which force is openly used to the
advantage of superior strata against inferior strata varies.

5.1 Caste, Class and Gender as Forms of Social Stratification

Caste

‘Caste’ has come to be associated with a social science concept. The phenomenon which we now
call ‘caste’ was named by western observers of India at an early stage in the colonial period. The
phenomenon of caste has probably aroused more controversy than any other aspect of Indian life
and thought. Some scholars see India’s caste system as the defining feature of ’Indian culture’.
Caste is such a complex phenomenon that it is difficult to define and the definitions pose lot of
problems. Yet, in order to use it for practical purposes, some of the following definitions may be
used :
“Caste is a collection of families, bearing a common name, claiming a common descent, from a
nythical ancester, human or divine, professing to follow the same hereditary calling and regarded
by those who are competent to give an opinion as forming a single homogenous community.”
... Herbert Risley
“When a class is somewhat strictly hereditary, we may call it a caste.”
.... C.H. Cooley
“When status is wholly predetermined so that men are born to their lot without any hope of
changing it, then the class takes the extreme form of caste.”
... Maclver and Page
“Caste is a closed class.”
... D.N. Majumdar
“Caste system is a form of social stratification in which castes are hierarchically organized and
separated from each other by rules of ritual purity.”
... Penguin’s Dictionary of Sociology
On the basis of these and dozens of other definitions caste may be understood and explained as a
form of social stratification which involves :
(i) a system of hierarchically ranked
(ii) closed
(iii) endogamous strata
(iv) ascribed membership
(v) restriction of contact between castes
(vi) mobility theoretically impossible.
Although, “it reflects economic inequalities, by virtue of the occupations typically followed by, or
permitted to members, caste stratification is ultimately rooted in non-economic criteria. In its’
purest form, in Hindu India, the caste principle is religious : castes are ranked in accordance with
the degree of ‘ritual purity’ ascribed to members and to their activities” (David Jary and Julia Jary,
1991). Historically, the most developed form, and some would argue the only true form, of caste
stratification has occurred in India in association with Hinduism. The origins of this system are

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